Some Preliminary Info: 1) ABS is a relatively soft plastic and most often just available in Black or White. It is usually sold in 4 X 8 Foot sheets, but some places will sell part sheets. You can buy it in various thickness's, up to 1/4 inch. 2) It can be cut into pieces by scoring it and breaking it, simular to how you cut glass. 3) Cutting ABS on a Table Saw is also OK, BUT Can be Dangerous as sometimes it is Brittle and can Fly apart. BE CAREFUL and wear proper protection. 4) ABS can be glued (Melted Together) with "MEK" (Methyl Ethyl Keytone) If Needed, a "Thick Glue" can be made by disolving Small Pieces or Shavings into some MEK. But try to avoid Stiring it too much as that adds a lot of Air Bubbles into it. 5) MEK is Flammable and the fumes are not good to breath, So do this work in a Well Ventilated area. 6) In the pictures below, I just used some Scraps of ABS, so Ignore the Hole in it. 7) I use a Hypodermic Needle to apply the MEK, but there are Plastic Applicators available from the Suppliers of the MEK. I Suggest you get one. 8) After applying MEK to the parts your Joining, you need to Apply Pressure to them to Hold them together, Until they dry a bit. This Usually only takes a minute. (Full Drying Will take Longer) 9) Continuing on, you can create a cell as big as you want, with a top and everything. 10) I would recommend 1/4 Inch ABS for the Container. If you include Partitions as shown in the Last Picture Below, the partitions could be 1/8 inch ABS. There are Various other thickness's available, so finding a suitable one for the spacers that you want should not be a problem. 11) ABS will handle a "REASONABLE AMOUNT OF HEAT" But Don't expect it to stand up to "BOILING TEMPERATURES". That isn't practical with this material or even others. 12) The Spacing between the plates will come out Quite Accurate with this process. And Contrary to the Belief that A Machine Slotted Acrilic material is More Precision, This is Not necessarly correct. Even though the Machining may be perfect, The Stainless steel plates will have a different coefecient of expansion than the acrilic container. In Either the Acrilic or ABS, This will result in the plates Bending slightly as the temperature changes. Asthey Bend, the Spacing will change. The Bigger the Plates, The Greater the Bending effect. 13) BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A CELL, I Recommend you PLAY a BIT, Gluing odd pieces together and get the feel For it. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT 14) I will probably add more info to this article, Later. I have over 30 years of practice with this, but its difficult to explain everything here.
Below are Pictures to show this procedure
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